Cecilia Muldoon

Cecilia Muldoon is the founder and CEO of VeriVin, an innovative startup developing a noninvasive quantum-enhanced spectroscopic analyser for wine and other complex liquids.

Cecilia studied physics and finance at Princeton University and holds a PhD in experimental Atomic and Laser Physics from Oxford University, where her PhD work focused on cold atom trapping and manipulation as a step towards the eventual implementation of a quantum computer. Cecilia is also a qualified wine nerd, having completed the WSET Diploma, which is a bachelors level wine industry qualification awarded by the Wine and Spirits Education Trust.

She founded VeriVin in 2015, with the aim of developing (now patented) technology capable of detecting the presence of certain molecular compounds in unopened bottles of wine – through the glass, without the need to take the cork out. In 2017, the company was awarded an Innovate UK quantum technologies grant for a collaborative project with the University of Oxford, to work on the quantum-enhanced spectroscopic sensing of trace compounds in complex liquids in sealed containers.

VeriVin’s aim is to create a database of molecular ID tags containing the optical fingerprints of millions of bottles of wine. The technology’s applications include non-invasive authentication, fault testing, molecular characterisation and monitoring over time.

Cecilia speaks five languages, and her other two lifelong passions are ballet, which she still practices and performs, and classic cars, which she judges and is learning to race and restore. She is originally from Mexico and lives in Oxford, England.

Programme sessions

14:30 – 15:30

Quantum Applications

Quantum computing is in its infancy but developments have already given rise to start-up companies using quantum technologies in novel ways. These include Oxford Quantum Circuits, a new approach to scaling superconducting based qubits; Oxford HighQ, using microcavities for chemical sensing; and Verivin, analysing wine without opening the bottle!

We also explore software innovations with NQIT, IBM Q and Cambridge Quantum Computing – on the challenges for programming quantum computers and developments in creating new quantum applications.